Dr Yunes Teinaz is a hero of our times. He has sent warmwell.com many of the links about which we write here.
He refuses to be intimidated by the dirty meat criminals who wield the muscle to intimidate
those who oppose their crimes against human health. If only there were more like him.

Apologies for not linking sooner to a calm, balanced but worrying debate
that took place on February 23rd at Westminster Hall.
115,000 people signed an e-petition to end
the practice of non-stun slaughter in the UK. However, as the debate reminded us,
another 125,000 people have signed an e-petition in favour of religious slaughter.
The whole debate is well worth reading.
(pdf file of the debate) for the insistence of many speakers that
what is happening in all slaughterhouses deserves
greater attention, that cruel ignorance of any kind must be tackled, and that due note be taken of the best practices
of Jewish and Muslim slaughter methods ( the high standards of training in shechita abattoirs was stressed, for example) since they can be considerably more humane than when an animal

"... is pushed through mass production abattoirs, where animals are bumping into each other,
mis-stunning takes place and there is a lot of distress and noise because of the need for mass-produced meat in this country."

What emerges at the end of the debate is that

"... Labelling is a key issue. The extent of mis-stunning has shocked us all.
I have not heard anyone speak out against CCTV in all slaughterhouses,
and a very strong case was made for post-cut stunning.
I hope the Minister has been impressed by the strength and variety of contributions made to him.
I am sure that he will stick to his commitment to look at these issues in greater detail,
because the public out there want Parliament - our Parliament -
to do something about this."

Many have been rightly horrified and sickened by the footage from Bowood Lamb abattoir in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.
The film, that may be seen on the BBC website (caution)
shows slaughter men killing sheep "hacking at sheep’s throats, hurling them into solid structures and kicking them in the face".
This has led to renewed calls for an end to non-stun
slaughter houses. An unfortunate assumption is that such outrageous cruelty is somehow condoned by Islam or Judaism.
The BBC headline itself refers to the
"brutality of the halal industry".
In fact, the halal code clearly stipulates that animals, although not pre-stunned, must be killed quickly with one sweep of a knife.
They should not see the knife, nor witness the death of other animals. Under UK law too, slaughtered animals
that have not been stunned must remain in position for at least 20 seconds after their throats are cut,
to ensure that they have lost consciousness before anything further happens. In the present political climate it is important
not to confuse the actions of a small number of unsupervised slaughtermen,
working in conditions that have permitted cruelty and contempt, with properly conducted religious practice. An interesting point made by mustaqim.co.uk

"...For Muslims, the privilege of supplementing their diet with animal protein
implies a duty to animal welfare, both during the rearing of the animal and during
the slaughter. Modern Western farming and slaughter, on the other hand,
aims at the mass consumer market and treats the animal as a commodity."

The Backbench Business Committee will shortly debate
the subject of non-stun slaughter in the House of Commons.
Many may feel that the question should be not about imposing a blanket ban on all non-stun slaughter, but rather on how to ensure
animal welfare in ALL slaughterhouses.

December 30th 2014 ~ Clearer labelling breakthrough is looking likely

From the BVA on Dec 20th

"The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has warmly welcomed
reports in today's Daily Telegraph that environment minister George Eustice
is giving serious consideration to labelling meat and fish as "stunned" or "non-stunned",
in line with BVA's campaign on non-stun slaughter.
Such a move would give a clear indication to consumers about the welfare of animals at slaughter,
an issue that BVA has campaigned rigorously on. The report comes as BVA's government e-petition
calling for an end non-stun slaughter in the UK reaches nearly 80,000 signatures."

The long awaited
Elliott Report (pdf) into food fraud
has called for a "robust, effective" Food Crime Unit to protect public health and legitimate food producers. Extract:

My systems
approach is based on eight pillars of food integrity and means that no part can be considered in isolation
and cherry picking of the recommendations will not work.
For each pillar I describe the foundations, bricks and mortar that need to be put in place for it to be strong and robust.
The public should be reassured that industry has taken my report seriously and has already started to implement
many of the recommendations. The recommendations for Government to implement will take more time to complete given
that the work cuts across a number of departments. There needs to be a partnership
approach between Government, regulators and industry to implement this national food crime prevention framework..."

Professor Chris Elliott's report calls for unannounced audits and a zero-tolerance approach. The report was initially due to be published
in the Spring, and is dated July 2014, but its publication was delayed. DEFRA denied that the reason for
delay was to avoid embarrassing Ministers (See
Independent) It is cheering that the report so strongly recommends the creation of a food crime unit since this is a response
to the concerns of many that there has been no clear leadership or co-ordination of effective investigations in the recent past.
On a small scale, and
by
courageous and committed individuals, there has been highly effective work - but few effective convictions have resulted.
As we have said several times, Dr Teinaz worked tirelessly to protect public health but was targeted
by those for whom meat crime is seen as a highly lucrative area of criminality. It is to be hoped that the Elliott Report will lead to substantial changes.

August 2014 ~ Fears that Bush Meat imports could lead to Ebola fever in the UK

In Africa, infection has been documented through the handling of infected chimpanzees, gorillas,
fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest. Unfortunately for the UK, because of
inadequately secure borders
there is a constant danger of unwanted pathogens arriving because of the very lucrative Bush Meat trade - exotic meat
that is popular in many sections of the African community.
No licensed vaccine is available for Ebola and no specific treatment is available - although new drug therapies are being evaluated.
The natural host of Ebola virus in Africa is thought to be the fruit bat. Non-human primates- while a source of infection to Man - are not thought to be the reservoir but rather an accidental
host like human beings themselves.
Since 1994 the virus has been observed in chimpanzees and gorillas. In Britain
the Daily Mail suggests that since Ebola has been linked to Bush Meat (illegally imported meat from exotic animals
such as chimpanzee, monkey and fruit bats),
"all it needs is a small piece
of infected meat, perhaps brought in the suitcase of a guest visiting from the continent, to pass Ebola into the community here..."
Ridley Road market in Dalton has been identified as a hub for such food and it is estimated that 7,500 tonnes of illegal meat enters Britain
each year. The Mail reports:

"Heathrow baggage handlers frequently complain about foul-smelling packages,
some seeping blood, as couriers arrive with their goods from Africa.
But their tip-offs present no significant hindrance to the trade, as the UK’s over-stretched customs
officers focus their resources on drugs and terrorist activities.
Meat is also brought into the country through the Channel Tunnel
after being flown to Paris, a major hub for flights from Africa..."

May 13th 2014 ~ "The answer is very simple. Food should be labelled as stunned or non-stunned"

The President of the BVA has written letters to David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband in which it is explained
that labelling all halal and kosher products will do nothing to inform the public about the "very
proper concerns regarding welfare at slaughter" but could instead "fuel further confusion and potentially feed prejudice".
The BVA asks them to support its call for food labelling to state whether the animal has been stunned in line with welfare legislation
or not stunned under the legal derogation.
Robin Hargreaves said:

This important animal welfare issue must not be hijacked by other agendas.
We need all three parties to take a lead on this issue to promote better consumer information and better animal welfare."

May 9th 2014 ~ Non-stun slaughter: "Growing concerns over the tone of the debate" The Times

An article in the Times (behind paywall) today by John Simpson
reports on the concern in the Muslim Council of Britain and Shechita UK.
Both organisations support the labelling of meat to reflect the method of slaughter
"but claim that it should go beyond whether electric stunning is used or not." Both organisations are worried that the issue is being hi-
jacked by right-wing groups in the run-up to the European elections. Both Jewish and Muslim groups fear that the tone of the current issue "smacks of sensationalism and Islamophobia".
Yunes Teinaz is quoted. He is deputy chairman of food standards for the Muslim Council of Britain,
and, as we have said elsewhere on this website, has worked
with courage and persistence on behalf of everyone in the UK to combat meat crime and its associated cruelty.

"We should be more concerned about food fraud,
poor animal welfare and abattoirs where they beat the animals or make them travel in dirty or cruel
conditions," he told the Times.

Henry Grunwald QC, is chairman of Shechita UK and is also quoted:

"It is deeply troubling
when the tone of this important debate about animal welfare and consumer information descends into intolerance."

We understand from
the article
that the EU Commission will deliver a report in the Autumn on information for consumers on the stunning of animals for slaughter. Meanwhile, the National Sheep Association
(NSA) in an attempt to clarify some of confusion in the national press this week, says that
practice of not stunning animals before slaughter is not common, even in meat intended for the halal market. See
NSA Press Release

April 2014 ~ Online petition hopes to end non-stun slaughter in Britain

The BVA, RSPCA,
Humane Slaughter Association, the Farm Animal Welfare Council, and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe have concluded that scientific evidence
shows that non-stun slaughter allows animals to perceive pain and compromises welfare. If the e-petition
gets the required 100,000 signtures in the next 12 months
consideration will be given to a debate in the House of Commons. (Today there were 1,096 after 2 days) At present, a derogation to the law requiring animals to be pre-sunned before slaughter
exists for certain religious communities - Dhabihah slaughter for
Halal food and Shechita slaughter for Kosher food. (Even so, over 80% of Halal slaughter in the UK is pre-stunned).
The petition (read e-petition in full) says

".....Non-stun slaughter affects millions of animals. We support a good life and a humane death for
all animals"

As the BVA says,

"...there is no requirement to label meat and meat products with the method of slaughter.
The hindquarters of animals killed by the Shechita method are not Kosher and therefore enter the mainstream market unlabelled.
With animal welfare high on the list of UK consumer concerns BVA and RSPCA are calling for clearer labelling
so that people can make an informed choice."

April 17th 2014 ~ Nor have lessons been learnt from the horsemeat scandal.

The National Sheep Association today have expressed deep disappointment at the FSA findings that 43
out of 145 meat samples from lamb takeaways recently tested by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) were not in fact lamb. Their press
release: (Extract)

"Sheep farmers work exceptionally hard to do the job right and turn out a high quality and
traceable product; they are subject
to strict animal identification laws and onerous inspection regimes, and many voluntarily participate
in additional assurance schemes too. This news is a slap in the face to a sheep sector
that puts in so much effort.
We have been let down by individuals further up the food chain who are not showing respect
for the honesty, traceability and high value of the work sheep farmers do." read in full

Beef, chicken and turkey were found in the 43 non-lamb samples, but no horsemeat. The Food Standards Agency has asked
local authorities to test 300 samples of lamb from takeaways from the beginning of May,
with the threat of a £5,000 fine for takeaway owners who are found to be mislabelling food. See also
today's Farmers Guardian.

September 2013 ~ "...local authorities should stop hounding reputable food businesses
on minor regulatory issues and concentrate on real public health issues such as the sale of illegal and unfit meat."

So said
independent environmental health consultant Paul Povey when the BBC ran articles about
illegal and potentially unsafe meat at the Ridley Road Market in Dalston, Hackney, a year ago. (There is no suggestion
of course that every butcher and food shop on the Ridley Road Market is prepared to deal in illegal meat). Dr Povey said,

"... I have been involved in this
in one way or another acting for local authorities for several years. The situation is still there.
The FSA and local authorities have known about this trade for a while and still little appears to be done." Read in full

One remembers how very different was the situation
in Hackney
when Dr Yunes Teinaz was there. He was forced out and although finally
vindicated, Dr Teinaz' health suffered greatly. There are dark forces behind the dirty meat business -
an illegal trade that some fear may be being winked at by the authorities
who know
how "dangerous to health" are both the products and the perpetrators. In December 2012
Dr Teinaz won the Arabs Group Achievement Award 2012 for the category "Best Arab Scientist who lives in the West".

February 2013 ~ 48 TONS of illegal meat smuggled into Britain in the last seven years

The Mirror ran this story: "...gangsters are using abattoirs in Poland before smuggling bogus meat here.
The 48 tons seized in the last seven years also contained burnt lamb and goat meat known as "smokies", an African delicacy.
Last year, council investigators found 10 freezers full of sheep heads and smoked carcasses at a farm in Camarthenshire, South Wales.
Details of the meat were contained in the Review of Controls on Products of Animal Origins,
a report on illegal food imports from the Department for Food and Rural Affairs.
There are 11 sniffer dogs here specifically trained to detect the goods.
However, there have been only 13 people prosecuted for illegal Products of Animal Origin imports since 2003.
Most are fined with paltry penalties of between £100 and £1,000 but one criminal was jailed for 28 days...." Read in full.

December 2012 ~ Many urban councils have not seized any illegal meat in past five years, according to an exclusive
EHN investigation.

".... trade was being ignored by councils as enforcement is difficult and expensive.
People supplying illegal meat know there is not any serious enforcement so they are doing it unchecked and making big profits.."

Yunes Teinaz says that "illegal meat was on sale wherever there was a demand. This meat is unfit
and is coming into the human food chain. It is harming the health of the public...For many years no councils have
taken action to deal with meat illegally slaughtered or illegally imported into the UK. It is outrageous."
He has called for a public inquiry into the trade.

September 21st 2012 ~ Shocking story of bush and illegal meat being sold in Hackney - including rat meat

When it appeared on the BBC website on September 17th, the story got 940,000 hits making it one of highest out of all stories around the world. On Ridley Road market in Hackney some stall holders are seen expressing fury at being filmed by the investigative camera crew. Dr Yunes Teinaz, former environmental health officer at Hackney, fought hard during his career against a lucrative trade that puts public health in Britain and endangered species abroad at such risk. His treatment by certain members of Hackney Council led to his early retirement . A legal tribunal supported his view of events. Since then, Hackney has evidently become a place where illegal meat sales - including cane rat meat for human consumption - can be almost openly sold and bought even though traders have denied the practice and Hackney Council said it had "only received one complaint since 2009". Yet Hackney seems to have done nothing to protect the Borough from such practices since around the time of the departure of Dr Teinaz. A Freedom of Information request to Hackney Council reveals that the last enforcement visits to premises concerning illegal meat in the whole borough took place in 2009. As Dr Teinaz says in this BBC video clip; "this is providing meat to the human food chain which can carry infectious diseases. Behind the underground trade in smokies are criminals who don't observe the law and are just after financial gain. It is disgusting and outrageous that the local authorities don't take action and remove this meat from the human food chain"

September 15th 2012 ~ 30 tons of unhygienically produced chicken meat ended up in takeaways

A piece of wire found in a takeaway led to a Bristol Council investigation into the takeaway's suppliers This led them to Hamza Poultry whose meat has been distributed across the South West to what were described in court as "KFC clones and kebab shops" The premises had none of "the necessary food hygiene approvals or licences to work with meat."
The owner said he had not known he needed a licence, and that the equipment he had on the site had come from a butcher who owed him money. He faces a possible jail term when sentenced next month.
Read more at the Daily Mail

July 12th 2012 ~ Qui custodiet ipsos custodes? "The risk posed by the incompetence shown by the FSA staff could have catastrophic consequences..."

Food Standards Agency Enforcement officers must ensure that Food Business Operators are
complying with the UK's health and hygiene regulations. On July 4th this year, one Food Business Operator whistleblower wrote,

"Are the FSA's own inspectors putting the consumers at unnecessary risk? It has been the sorry experience of many food business operators, that when they have brought their concerns forward to the FSA regarding repeated failings of the FSA staff, they have repeatedly fallen on deaf ears.
The FSA is acting as judge, jury and executioner, and unless they listen to FBO's serious concerns regarding breaches of personal hygiene practices carried out by their own inspectors the next major food outbreak could be brought on by their own staff."

This video, uploaded to YouTube, was shot in May and June 2012. The footage, says the whistleblower, "reveals the hypocrisy and double standards employed on a day-to-day basis by the Food Standards Agency employees." The video shows carelessly dirty uniforms, practices and conditions - even an inspector going to the toilet and returning - without basic hygiene practices having been undertaken - to the area containing poultry carcasses destined for human consumption.

August 7th 2011 ~ "so
much energy is expended
in resolving the stunning vs.
non-stunning debate that
important issues such as
food safety and food quality
receive too little attention."

John Pointing is a Barrister and Senior
lecturer in law at the Kingston university, UK. He writes as an English barrister and a non-muslim with what he calls, "an unusual perspective on halal food issues". He has a particular interest in meat crime and echoes the worry on these pages that the financial rewards of such despicable and dangerous crimes are so lucrative and penalties so weak that the prevention,
detection and the
successful prosecution of
food criminals is difficult
to achieve. His article in the latest Halal Journal may well be of interest to those who want to know more about the relationship between food law and halal
requirements.

".. problems
cluster around the boundary
issues of halal/ non-halal.
These types of problems are
difficult in themselves and
become prevalent as science
develops and production
methods become more
sophisticated. So, if a very
reliable method of non-fatal
stunning were developed,
which relaxed the animal
prior to slaughter (thus
making it more compliant
with halal requirements),
would this still render
the meat haram to some
muslims because a form
of stunning had been
used? ...."

Muslims themselves are divided on the
stun/ no-stun issue.
Mr Pointing argues that both muslim and
non-muslim consumers are
entitled to have sufficient,
reliable information about
the slaughtering methods
used, that protocols should be drawn up for clear halal-compliant labels backed by UK ( and EU) law
as well as Shariah law so that all consumers have clear information. Read in full (pdf)

May 8th 2011~ "holy water" laced with arsenic is still being sold illegally to Muslims by UK shops

Genuine Zam Zam water comes from a well in Mecca considered holy. It cannot be exported for commercial use although tourists in Saudi Arabia are allowed to take out small amounts. So finding large amounts on sale suggests that people are not only being cheated but actually put in danger. The BBC quotes Dr Yunes Ramadan Teinaz who has been warning about the dangers of this and has done extraordinary work in protecting the UK from contaminated meat.

"People see this water as a holy water. They find it difficult to accept that it is contaminated but the authorities in Saudi Arabia or in the UK must take action"

March 13th 2011 ~ Illegal meat scams

A presentation written by Dr Teinaz and by the barrister Mr. John Pointing
and presented in January at the First Gulf Conference on Halal Industry and its Services, in Kuwait, shows graphically that it is not only those who want to eat healthy halal meat who are endangered by meat crime in this country. In 2009, the Food Standards Agency’s chicken survey,
found that:

"65% of chickens are contaminated with
campylobacter, helping it to be the most
common type of food poisoning in the
UK."

There is evidence of systematic regulatory failure. Cracking down on meat crime, according to the writers, involves the following

Legislation is needed that would make crimes involving
bringing unfit meat into the food chain easier to
prosecute

The light sentences imposed on those involved in meat
crimes, such as illegal slaughter, should be significantly
increased

The Meat Hygiene Service should be adequately
resourced, to ensure that the handling of meat waste and
by-products in abattoirs is effectively supervised and
not used out of hours for illegal slaughter

Investigation should be done on whether illegal imports
or export of meat, particularly through airports, are
being adequately prevented

There should be greater public awareness of the role of
enforcement bodies, including environmental health
practitioners, in meat crimes

The public should be educated on the potential dangers
of buying cheap meat

See presentation in full
It is more than ever vital that people find local and healthy sources of food that they trust - and in particular, meat and poultry - even if it does cost a little more. Illegal meat has usually involved cruelty and it jeopardises health - and of course inadequately secure borders mean a constant danger of unwanted pathogens arriving because of the very lucrative Bush Meat trade. Article 8, EC REGULATION 178/2002

"Consumer protection a key object of European General
Food Law. Food law "should seek to prevent deceptive and
fraudulent practices and enable consumers to make
informed choices about the food they eat." Applies to quality, nature and substance of the food as
well as to labelling. Trend towards full labelling, including how animals
slaughtered."

Laudable aims. None has been properly or adequately addressed.

June 14th 2010 ~ The criminal charges against Mr Yusuf a former West Yorkshire abattoir
operator result in a prison term

The successful conviction was a result of an
investigation by Kirklees Council, assisted by the Food Standards Agency,
into the operation of an unapproved meat cutting plant in Dewsbury.
Mr Yusuf had breached a 2004 order prohibiting him from
being concerned in the management of a food business,operating an
unapproved meat premises; placing non health-marked meat on
the market. There were other hygiene offences.
He failed to appear at a hearing at Leeds
Crown Court in March last year and a warrant was issued for his arrest. Dr Teinaz, commenting on the case, told warmwell:

"Unfortunately meat hygiene is worse than a few years ago because of the
cuts of resources in the FSA and local authorities as the result of the
financial crunch. It has resulted in more illegal meat entering into the human
food chain all over the country. The illicit trade is booming at the
expense of the health of the nation. Nothing much happens to the criminals.."

.

June 13th 2010 ~ FSA welcomes a decision by the Court of Appeal to uphold a prison term for food hygiene violations

"Yusuf appeared before Leeds Crown Court in September 2009 and was sentenced to four- and-a-half years, after violating a number of food hygiene regulations dating back to 2004, and then breaching his subsequent bail terms.
The prison term was challenged by Yusuf’s lawyers as being too lengthy and not reflective of his personal circumstances at the time. However, Mrs Justice Rafferty, sitting with Lord Justice Pitchford and Judge Clement Goldstone QC, maintained that the length of the sentence was justified."

Read in full

April 12th 2010 ~ "the practice of undeclared pork and beef protein injection
in poultry"

Muslim concern about the authenticity of meat labelled as halal, particularly in KFC products aimed at the Muslim community in Britain, has revealed that the practice of deliberately injecting
hydrolysed pork and beef proteins into chicken, a practice discovered in 2001/2003 studies by the Food Standards Agency, is still continuing.
Such chicken preparations are supplied mainly to catering facilities. The FSA advised
consumers eating food from a restaurant or takeaway that they "should ask if the chicken
contains hydrolysed animal proteins". Restaurants and catering establishments will have this
information available to them as it will be on the ingredients list of the products they buy.

March 31st 2010 ~ Julian Jones jailed - at last

Julian Jones has figured many times on these pages. Swansea Crown Court has now jailed him for 15 months. UKWired reports:

"The court heard that on 17 December 2008 officers from Ceredigion Council's environmental health department .... were looking for smokies - illegally butchered sheep where the skin of the animal is left on and blow-torched, and the spine is not removed, in contravention of UK and EU law.
Officers found 109 carcasses, 133 sheep heads and 560 animal limbs, along with a propane gas cylinders.....
Jones was later charged with producing unsafe food, operating a food establishment without the required approval and failing to dispose of category two animal by-products...
In a separate incident, and whilst on bail for the previous offences, Jones was stopped in Newport in February 2009, .. his van was... found to contain two and half tonnes of smokies..." Read in full

The defence barrister suggested in mitigation that such crimes were pardonable because somehow "unsophisticated". Since, in a civilised society, the same could be said for all crime, this seems a rather odd defence. Once again, we see the suggestion (Channel 4) that

"....there are some signs that the trade could be legalised, after a government-sponsored pilot scheme found that smokies can be made legally.
If this does happen, they could become a big money spinner for struggling farmers, who sell normal carcasses for £40. For a smoky, its £60. It is estimated that sales could amount to 150,000 a year, leading to £3m extra for British farmers."

We find it of concern that Carmelo Gale, another former dirty meat merchant, had, just a few days before appearing in court in May 2004 on a meat crimes charge himself, been at a meeting with DEFRA livestock strategy division civil servants, arranged by the National Sheep Association to discuss the possibility of legalising smokies. The Farmers Union of Wales has always backed legalising the production of smokies as a way for farmers to make more money from the sale of sheep - but it has criticised the use of Mr Gale as a consultant - and it seems that it is he, among others, who has been particularly pushing for the legalisation of smokies (see below).

February 1st 2010 ~ Legal Smokies?

One emailer, on hearing the news that the FSA was pushing for smokies (see "Dirty Meat" page) to be made legal across the EU or as a UK derogation, wrote that: "They took this step under the pressure of the perpetrators who are already producing smokies in the Meat Hygiene Service Licensed plants..." and the Farmers Guardian article which mentions the name of one 'campaigner', Carmello Gale, does not mention Mr Gale's several dirty meat convictions - which include a 2002 conviction for transporting about 120 unfit sheep carcasses intended for human consumption, and one in 2004 for running an illegal slaughterhouse, killing elderly ewes in unlicensed premises in order to produce "smokies" for ethnic communities. The Farmers Union of Wales has always backed legalising the production of smokies - but it has criticised the use of Mr Gale as a consultant. It seems extraordinary that just a few days before appearing in court on that charge in May 2004, Mr Gale had been at a meeting with DEFRA livestock strategy division civil servants, arranged by the National Sheep Association to discuss the possibility of legalising smokies already being researched by the Food Standards Agency.

February 1st 2010 ~ FSA Board meetings can be seen and heard on the FSA website

The deliberations of the most recent Jan 26 FSA Board meeting are available in full on the FSA webpage. The concern being expressed about the illegal trade in smokies continuing alongside the legal production of smokies, did not seem to be being adequately addressed in the meeting beyond somewhat vague recommendations about "health marks". The power and financial clout of criminals did not seem to be being taken adequately into consideration. As for the question of funding for the checks and surveillance necessary to ensure compliance with safety, this was to be entirely the responsibility of "the industry".
( Under a new Conservative Government, the Food Standards Agency would be split up. See the Conservative green paper "A Healthier Nation" (pdf) )

November 7 2009 ~",,, far from a unique case nor peculiar to the Halal trade..."

Another case concerning the adulteration of meat shows again how lucrative and tempting to the unscrupulous meat crime is. www.meattradenewsdaily.co.uk gives recent examples of this dangerous trade and quotes the judge in the most recent case:

"....Passing sentence Judge Paul Hoffman said: "This is a case of wicked, deliberate and highly culpable breaches of the food safety laws. You were hypocrites too, because while offering Halal meat, which many would have taken as a guarantee of quality, basic rules of food hygiene had been completely ignored, exposing large numbers of your own countrymen and others to the dangers of food poisoning."
Evidence had been given at the original trial that meat had been soaked in bleach to make it appear fresher. An inspector from the FSA also said she had seen a chicken carcass being nibbled by a cat. The premises were described overall as being in a filthy state..."

The FSA, Kirklees Council and West Yorkshire Police worked together to achieve this successful prosecution.

October 23 2009 ~ The sheep, slaughtered in a poultry shed for Halal meat were not pre-stunned.

A court case reported on Wednesday by www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk concerns the illegal slaughter of sheep during the Muslim festival of Eid.
Animal Health Officers from Gloucestershire County Council Trading Standards found that a poultry shed was being used to slaughter sheep in conditions both unhygienic and cruel and the meat went into the human food chain without being inspected.
The paper describes Cheltenham Magistrates Court's sentencing of the perpetrators - who pleaded "guilty to offences of slaughtering animals without pre-stunning at a place other than a slaughter house, failing in a duty of care under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, failing to stain 'specified risk material' to identify it as not being for consumption, and failing to return a sheep movement licence to the local authority" - all of which sounds as though, to the British legal system, the breaking of bureaucratic rules is all that is reprehensible.
Thus the ringleader was sentenced to 200 hours unpaid work in the community and ordered to pay a contribution of £400 towards costs while his two brothers were fined £120 each and were each ordered to pay a £100 contribution towards costs.
The sentences may not be thought to reflect the seriousness of inhumane slaughter. While these three men may not have been involved in it, organised meat crime itself is cruel and highly lucrative - and its perpetrators are as powerful as they are dangerous. It will never be stopped while the authorities are wary of tackling it head-on - as this page has tried to illustrate.

July 30 2009 ~ Thousands of pounds worth of black market meat

Stinking bags full of sheep's carcasses and heads have been found in Enfield- stolen sheep, illegally slaughtered, and transported in unrefrigerated vans- as this BBC video shows. The trade in 'smokies' appears to be continuing unabated. What is certain is that the profits made by such trafficking are so great that thousands are being spent by the criminals to evade justice. It is believed the meat had been destined for shops serving West African customers. The van, discovered by police in Enfield because of the smell, (the BBC reporter staggers back when shown the van by Enfiled's Chief Environmental Officer), contained bags of smokies. A sheep head from a smokie can fetch 50 pounds in African butchers in London. There are links, says the BBC, between the Enfield van and Mid Wales. The owner of the van is in court on Thursday on similar charges.

March 19 2009 ~ Unfit, slimy and dangerous meat sold as Halal

A link Is Halal Meat Really Halal? on the current Islam Channel website: "..... a wanted man, a hate figure for those involved in the sale of illegal meat. Three years ago he received death threats because of his work involving illegal meat sellers, and his boss was offered 20 thousand pounds to sack him......" It is likely that this case (filmed in 2007 before Hackney, for reasons unknown, suspended Dr Teinaz from his work) was only scratching the growing problem. Muslims consume 20% of all lamb and mutton in the UK - which makes them an easy target for unethical, illegal butchers. But of course the whole British population is at risk from unfit meat - against which legal controls are known to be inadequate. In 2007, Hackney used to be at the forefront of the fight against such illegally produced meat. It is more than worrying that at present such a fearless environmental officer as Dr Teinaz cannot operate in his work to protect public health.

February 11 2009 ~ mobile cinema units successfully educate local Kenyan communities about the dangers of the bushmeat trade.

From www.inthenews.co.uk
Will Travers, who co-founded the internation ally-renowned Born Free, charity in 1984, and journalist and broadcaster Miriam O'Reilly will be presenting an exclusive Web TV show to provide an educational insight into the bushmeat trade.
"According to the BBC, nearly 7,500 tonnes of illegal meat products enter Britain every year, often disguised as 'beef'. With a reduction in customs staff, ports up and down the coast are left vulnerable to smugglers and as a result, 85 per cent of bushmeat enters through personal luggage. Once in the UK, more than half (55 per cent) of the illegal meat is distributed through wholesalers or sold at local street markets. Most Brits are completely unaware of the illegal trade and the potential risk that they could face by consuming illicit meat."

In spite of The Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI
2006/2841), as amended by The Products of Animal Origin (Third Country Imports) (England)
(Amendment) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/1605) - and in spite of today's news (farming UK) that "incidents of illegal meat, animals and food being seized have dropped dramatically in the United Kingdom in the last year", the problem of dangerous, illegally killed meat and illegally imported bushmeat from endangered species continues. While 24,956 was the number of seizures reported between April 2007-March 2008, ( 6th Annual Review of Controls on Imports of Animal Products) the full scale of the problem is unknown.
In America, Assemblyman Greg Ball will be introducing legislation to combat bushmeat in an attempt to keep the flesh of elephants, chimpanzees, gorillas, forest antelope and rare species well away from the plates of the ignorant.
He says,

"Having worked to protect animals and a lifelong conservationist at heart, I was appalled to learn about this practice. .. This issue, while maybe not life threatening to most New York families, is an important sub-issue that requires immediate attention." news release

Jan 12 2009 ~ The third largest illegal trade in the UK after arms and narcotics

In late 2006, a Guardian article "Sins of the flesh" quoted Dr Yunes Teinaz who explained that although in Britain few are even aware of it, the illegal meat trade is a billion-pound industry. Quite apart from the conservation issue "....The biggest fear from this kind of meat is that it will introduce a new strain of, say E coli, or even worse, Ebola, into Britain." (for latest on Ebola on ProMed see Jan 8 posting.) Dr Teinaz considers that illegal meat is now the third largest illegal trade in the UK after arms and narcotics.
Animals can be trapped with poison and that too, as well as zoonotic disease, can be passed on to those who eat bushmeat. Unfortunately, any trade in illegal meat is hugely profitable. Gangs have all the power of those who will stop at nothing and employ any means to remain above the law. One criminal - even though found guilty of being responsible for 120 illegal carcasses - was fined a derisory £250. And since the article in the Guardian was written, Dr Teinaz himself - one of the most tireless and committed opponents of meat crime in the UK - has been rendered unable to continue his vital work.

June 10 2007 ~ "The Observer has learnt from one senior trading standards officer that poultry smuggled in from Egypt, where avian flu was confirmed last year, is on sale at markets across London.

Dr Yunes Teinaz, acting environmental health manager for the London borough of Hackney, said much of the trade was carried out by criminal gangs: 'It's a very big black-market industry with highly lucrative rewards. You just need £400 to buy an old van and you can go around the country distributing illegal meat.'..."

June 2007 Article on the illegal meat trade by Aura Sabadus

In a thriving consumer society, food has become no less fashionable than the latest must-have cars or the clothes we choose to wear.

But like many other products on the shelves, the juicy chicken looking tempting on our dinner plates or the burgers wedged inside freshly baked rolls may have a history that is often linked to the murky world of international trafficking, animal cruelty, black magic and even cannibalism.

Every year hundreds of tonnes of decomposing meat stored in illegal slaughter houses across the country are believed to enter the food chain, exposing consumers to serious public health hazards that can often lead to animal and human diseases such as E-coli, BSE, Foot-and-Mouth or Bird Flu.

The problem is further compounded by the smuggling of "dirty bush meat" - rats, insects, giraffes, gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants killed in various African countries or the Far East and then channelled onto underground markets in Europe, including Britain, for human consumption.

At £1bn a year, the sale of illegal meat whether locally produced or imported is considered one of the largest illegal trades in the UK, according to environmental health experts. But despite existing evidence from Customs and Excise who confirm that seizures continue to increase year by year, there are too few resources and too few staff to gauge the trade's true scale and to stamp it out. Figures provided by Customs and Excise show an upward trend, with the number of seizures increasing from 15,316 in 2003/04 to 25,286 in 2004/05 and finally to 32,703 last year.

Much of the meat is smuggled in via the 140million tonnes of freight that pass through Britain's ports and airports every year to be then sold in markets or takeaways across the country. Most of it is destined for London's ethnic population, but health experts say even counties like Norfolk or Suffolk may not be safe from the illegal trade. At Felixstowe, Suffolk, consignments of bush meat were discovered over the last years. In 2001, it was revealed that over 100 cartons of meat mixed with cereals, noodles, and other non-meat products arrived in the port from China - which had been hit by numerous outbreaks of foot and mouth in recent times.

In Norfolk the National Farmers' Union is concerned at the illegal meat trade. Brian Finnerty speaking for the Union said infected meat can often end up in the animal food chain leading to outbreaks of Foot and Mouth or other diseases.

"The fact that illegal meat imports are still coming in is something that we feel strongly about. The year before the outbreak of foot and mouth, we had swine fever in Suffolk which had been traced to infected meat. That was very worrying for our farmers. The Government got better at raising awareness, but this is a matter we simply can't be complacent about," he says.

Dr Yunes Teinaz, the head of environmental health in Hackney, East London and adviser to the director-general of the Islamic Cultural Centre in London believes the intelligence he gets on the traffic of dirty meat is only the "tip of the iceberg."

A big man, who has a £100,000 bounty on his head because of his relentless attacks on criminal gangs, Dr Teinaz says the trade is highly sought after because the trafficked products are either wanted for human consumption or used by "witch-doctors" who sell them as "miraculous" remedies for incurable diseases at extortionate rates.

"I want to raise awareness about this trade which seems to have wide ramifications throughout the country. It's worth more than £1bn a year and it depends on cruel methods being used to catch the animals, as well as unsatisfactory methods of storage," he says.

"In Britain, there is the sale of "smokies," decomposing meat often blowtorched and resold as fit for human consumption. There was much disquiet over several similar cases in Carmarthenshire, Wales, where a few farmers were found red-handed and fined.

"In two separate cases in 2003, I found 150 carcasses on each occasion, produced as 'smokies' in Wales. The meat then ends up in mince pies, kebabs or burgers all over the country."

The acting head of environmental health in Hackney, East London, is equally concerned at the trade in bush meat whose hidden nature gives enforcement agencies major headaches.

"Methods of importing illegal food into the UK are becoming increasingly sophisticated," he says. "Preparation of bush meat is often carried out in filthy, unhygienic and shabby premises by people with little understanding of health risks. The potential of harm is very serious indeed. International bodies cite reports of people being infected by such serious diseases as HIV and Ebola virus as a result of hunting, butchering or eating bush meat animals such as monkeys, cane rats, giraffes," he said.

Dr Teinaz says that given the existing legal framework, enforcement agencies face an uphill struggle whenever trying to prosecute those who are in breach of the law.

In one high-profile case in 2003, an African woman received a prison sentence at London's Haringey Magistrates' of three months together with a life ban. She was convicted of 23 charges, including breaches of the Food Safety Regulations and for selling food that was unfit for human consumption. However, the prosecution was not brought for selling bush meat per se, but because of the filthy conditions in which the food was stored.

He adds: "The law has no teeth. People receive very mild sentences and it's easy for them to slip through the net."

Most terrifyingly, Dr Teinaz says, is recent intelligence he has received regarding the discovery of human body parts sold for consumption on the black market.

"I haven't found anything myself, but if this is true, and it could well be that this is the case, then that's terrifying news.

"We know that much of the bush meat trade is used in potions and ointments for black magic treatments and we know that other animals are sacrificed for voodoo purposes in the African community. But we have a deep concern over human body parts. We think they could be coming in with the bush meat."

The illegal trade is also taken seriously by leading microbiologist Professor Hugh Pennington, who advised the Government at the height of the BSE and Bird Flu crises.

"The trade in illegal meat is definitely an issue worth jumping on," he says.

"Consumers are exposed to some health risks that they are not used to. The trade involves some products that are not subject to any proper checks and there is the important issue of detecting the products as well as finding the right evidence to stand the cases up in court."

Last night, Sophie Leney, assistant head of the county's Trading Standards Agency tried to allay fears, claiming the trade was not a "big issue" in Norfolk. She insisted the body was involved in carrying out traceability checks on meat products whose origins may not be clearly stated on labels.

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs explained: "We continue to recognise that we can only tackle the illegal imports with a combined effort across all relevant government departments and enforcement agencies and by raising public awareness and understanding the risks."

But speaking from London, Dr Teinaz is not convinced.

"Unless there are more environmental health officers to enforce the law and to produce a co-ordinated approach to tackling food crime, Britain will remain exposed to all sorts of diseases and the Government could be accused of indirectly allowing this to happen," he concluded.

April 2007 ~ there is now a greater risk of contracting and spreading a food borne illness locally, regionally, and even globally. Food poisoning problem requires action by food producers and distributors as well as by consumers, from the farm to the folk.

On Monday 16 April 2007 Snaresbrook Crown Court Judge dismissed the application by Mr Qurbain Hussain, owner of Gangal Ridley Halal Butchers to appeal against his sentence for selling unfit meat. Mr Hussain was found guilty of four offences at Thames Magistrates Court on the 15th January. The offences related to the sale of meat unfit for human consumption under the Food Safety Act 1990.
Mr Hussain who was arrested at an airport last year after failing to appear at the Thames Magistrate Court did not appear and the Appellant applied for an adjournment. The application was refused. The Judge then went on to hear the facts and submissions. The Judge dismissed the application to appeal the sentence and ordered the original sentence to remain, which was a £900 fine for each offence and costs of £4,000 (a total of £7,600). The judge also ordered the Appellant to pay £540 for the costs of the appeal assessment.
Councillor Alan Laing, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said: ''The Hackney Environmental Health team will continue to be very proactive, in order to protect public health and ensure unfit meat is not sold in this borough. The council will take legal action against anyone selling sub standard food, or preparing food in an unsafe environment."

April 6 2007 ~ "Offending restaurants don't train their staff to meet health and hygiene standards. They often buy and serve condemned meat because it's cheap. And it's cheap because it hasn't been through public health controls"

Dr Teinaz's interview at www.londragazete.com is well worth reading in full. "He'd rather play nicely, but he's prepared to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty if proprietors don't cooperate."
"....Of course, for every failing restaurant there are many more who follow the regulations to the letter and honour the very spirit of the laws. "There are many kebab houses that follow the rules, that are very hygienic, and I must congratulate them," says Dr Teinaz. "If the kebab is nice, the meat is healthy and has passed health controls, if it's bought from a reputable supplier and there's less salt in it for a healthy choice; if the restaurant is clean and hygienic, there will be more customers to make everybody happy and proud," he says."

March 30 2007 Dr Yunes Teinaz
interviewed by Islam Channel

The report went out yesterday at 5.30pm and was repeated at 9.30 pm as part of the news on Islam Channel, Sky Channel 813. You can watch it on the internet for the next 5 days. The website address is www.islamchannel.tv/news (click on 29 March ).

March 19 2007 ~ "As public concern about cruelty to farm animals grows, there has been a huge surge in demand for such eggs, which can cost as much as 80p a dozen more than battery hen products." Daelnet.uk

The free-range egg swindle, said to have covered about two percent of free range egg sales in Britain,
is reported on today by, among others, the Daily Telegraph, Farmer's Weekly Interactive, Reuters and the Guardian. The scandal raises even more questions about accurate labelling - and proper checks. But the fraud emphasises UK consumers' increasing reluctance to buy food from factory farms. As
Daelnet.uk says, "Such has been the demand that British farmers have been unable to match the increase in production so millions of eggs are being imported from two as yet un-named European countries.
....by selling them as free range, the British egg packers and distributors will have racked up millions in fraudulent profits. There have been similar cases in the past - including prosecutions in Yorkshire several years ago - but nothing on the scale of the current investigation."Meanwhile, it is determined individuals - such as those in the Hackney Environmental Health Services team - who are doing the real work in trying to stamp out the lucrative illegal meat trade. Such first hand work is dangerous and unpleasant - as are the criminals against whom they are fighting. (The descriptions and photos involved are not for the faint hearted.)

January 15 2007 ~ Despite committing these offences over two years ago it has taken until this week to obtain a conviction

December 7 2006 ~ battery eggs sold as free range, intensively farmed food sold as organic, low quality produce sold as premium....

The FSA has begun a major investigation into food fraud in Britain. The Times reports, ".... In an interim report for today's agency board meeting, Dr Barlow also suggests that the fraudsters were willing to take risks because of the low chance of detection and some confusion over the roles of various enforcement agencies.
There is particular concern that criminals operating on a national scale may be escaping detection and prosecution because of the piecemeal approach by local authorities.
Dr Barlow's task force is to complete a final report by next summer. Its early findings coincide with a number of investigations into suspect dealings in the food industry.
Inspectors at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have announced that they are investigating a massive scam over low-price, battery-cage eggs that are being sold as premium grade, free-range eggs.
The FSA is also conducting surveys into the extent to which farmed fish is passed off as wild; meat from conventional farming is sold as organic; low-quality beef is sold under the Aberdeen Angus label; ordinary chickens are sold as corn-fed; and whether fruit juices are really "pure"."

"18.5 per cent rise in the number of seizures of illegal meat smuggled from the 15 countries that are classed as 'high risk' of animal-borne disease.... a nightmare scenario in which Ebola finds its way into our food chain

Observer
"....Dr Yunes Teinaz is a dead man walking, at least that's what his enemies
say. Teinaz, a big man with a big mouth, has a £100,000 bounty on his head
thanks to his outspoken attacks on criminal gangs.
But the gangs who Teinaz, Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, an adviser to the Director General of the Islamic Cultural Centre, has fallen foul of are not involved in prostitution, drugs or guns: they sell meat. Illegally. .......'For some time, our concern has been that nobody has done a theoretical examination of the risks to public health. But if it could happen we need to know. The consequences would be enormous,' Morris added.
Figures to be published this month, as part of the HM Revenue & Customs' annual review into the illicit trade in smuggled produce, will show an 18.5 per cent rise in the number of seizures of illegal meat smuggled from the 15 countries that are classed as 'high risk' of animal-borne disease. ..."
Read in full two recent Observer articles

July 16 2005 ~ Some progress: "... if meat is unfit for human consumption, it cannot be considered halal, irrespective of whether
it derived from a halal slaughtered animal."

Shaheen Zar of the
Meat Fraud and Diversity Branch
Enforcement Division of the Food Standards Agency, has now written to Jane Downes, the Veterinary and
Technical Director at the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) concerning the points raised in
the letter from Dr Ahmed Al Dubayan
and Dr Yunes Teinaz
of the Islamic Cultural Centre. In the letter to the MHS, Shaheen Zar says:

"....The ICC letter has confirmed the collective opinion of the Muslim Organisations Working Group.
It states that it is not an Islamic requirement for halal slaughtered animals to leave the
slaughterhouse un-chilled....meat transported in un-refrigerated vehicles is
at a far greater risk of arriving in a state that is not fit for human consumption.....if meat is unfit for human consumption, it cannot be considered halal, irrespective of whether
it derived from a halal slaughtered animal.
I would be grateful if this advice could be forwarded to all licensed premises, as well as including
it as an item in the next MHS newsletter as it appears to be a common misconception that hot
meat is an Islamic requirement. It would also be helpful to receive a progress note in due course
in order to inform the Working Group."

March 28 ~ April 3 2005 ~ "...hundreds of carcases of illegal meat enter the human food chain without any action"

Diseased meat, illegally slaughtered in the vilest of conditions, is getting into the human food chain. Carcases can be bought from the criminals who - with good reasons - laugh all the way to the bank at the government's " wide-ranging action plan to tackle meat crime". They know that neither local authorities nor the Food Standards Agency has the time, inclination or expertise to stop them - and that even if they do end up in the dock it will cause just a brief and inexpensive hiatus to their activities. Agencies getting government money to check on safety and hygiene are simply not doing so - and the FSA says that to introduce a new law against a newly defined offence would "breach European Community law". Watchdog on BBC television, Tuesday 29 March at 7 pm is going to shock and disturb viewers. for the email received from the one man in the country who is fighting the meat criminals on behalf of the people of London, Dr Yunes Teinaz, see below

January 16 - 22 2005 ~ Food Standards Agency says it would be a breach of EU law to create a new offence against the
£1bn a year criminal meat trade

In answer to the important Parliamentary Question from Charles Hendry on January 12th 2005 "... what punishments may be imposed upon those found guilty of selling or trading in dirty, diseased and illegal cuts of meat..?", Miss Melanie Johnson
said that the

".. Food Standards Agency has, with its partners in other Government Departments and enforcement bodies, a wide-ranging action plan to tackle meat crime."(See below)

Important professional and trade associations, such the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and the Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) have called for new legislation to deal with serious food crime. Among others sceptical of the "action-plan" is Dr Yunes Teinaz, whose response is important. However, the Food Standards Agency has resisted, arguing that to introduce a new offence would "breach European Community law". The Meat Hygiene service which is an executive Agency of the Food Standards Agency cannot be regarded as above suspicion, while what we saw in last September's Dispatches programme suggests that corruption and collusion can be found in very high places, that agencies get government money to check on safety and hygiene but do not do so. How many of the stakeholders being consulted by the FSA have, as their first priority, the health of the nation - rather than that of their pockets or their careers ?

December 13 2004 ~" JULIAN JONES smelt strongly of rotten meat. His clothing was dirty and stained, as well as his hands which were bloodstained. .."

The largest "smokies" criminal meat case came to a conclusion on Monday at Wood Green Crown Court. Two years of painstaking and heroic work by Dr Yunes Teinaz, showing cast iron evidence of guilt, cruelty and disregard for public safety - work that was carried out in the face of actual death threats and intimidation and on behalf of the public health of the entire country, formed the prosecution. The result? Fines and community service for Julian Jones and James Elliott.

From the evidence:
"...Some livers showed signs of parasitic cysts. The lungs had lesions consisted with parasitic pronchopneumonia. The udders of lactating female animals had not been removed from the carcasses. The kidneys also remained attached to the carcasses without having been removed from their covering membranes. ..the carcasses were in a warm condition. There was a noticeable foul smell when the door was first opened. There were no health marks or evidence of inspection on the carcasses. ..."

There is a stench of corruption here. Meat criminals are rich, dangerous and influential. The most absurd regulations and red tape in the name of food safety are putting good farmers out of business - but when it comes to the real criminals, the government loses its nerve...indeed, DEFRA just days before the latest of his convictions for meat crimes last June, chose to use Carmelo Gale as a "consultant".

"I've seized many carcasses contaminated by faeces, brain and spinal matter, as well as a variety of potentially- fatal bacteria. Some have also been covered in cysts and riddled with disease...

...After a long battle against these criminals I feel that nothing happens to them; they are still in business poisoning the nation every day and no one is taking any action...I will do what I can to protect the public despite difficulties which I am facing." Dr Yunes Teinaz..

In spite of reassuring words from the government and the FSA, - no action is actually taken to stop the rotten trade except by the heroic few such as Dr Teinaz. Although professional and trade associations have called for new legislation to deal with serious food crime, the Food Standards Agency has resisted, arguing that to introduce a new offence would "breach European Community law."

Thanks to Dr Yunes Teinaz and other researchers who have shared their knowledge with warmwell, we can at least put some information onto the internet for all to see. This sort of task should not be up to us - but where are those who should be giving substantial help to Dr Teinaz with new legislation aimed at the real criminals? The Meat Trade in its criminal form is sinister, powerful and deeply feared - and widespread. Who will protect consumers from diseased meat and the animals from barbarous slaughter?

email March 28 2005

I have managed successfully to arrange the purchase of smokies from Southwark and Brixton in Lambeth for the Watchdog programme, going on air Tuesday 29 March @7 pm.
It is alarming when hundreds of carcases of illegal meat enter the human food chain without any action from the local authorities or the FSA.!
I am sure that the viewers of the programme will find the footage disturbing. This is an issue affecting the health of the entire nation.
The same criminals still in business; nothing happens to them !